A Quick Shower
by Afroz
Summary: Getting to be unexpectedly alone with the Captain, leads to rumor mills working overtime. Crack!Fic. Three-shot. No slash or pairings. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This will be a three-shot. But if I do get suggestions, it can go beyond that.**

**And also, I'm willing to beta any of your Star Trek: 2009 one-shots. Check out my Beta Profile for more information**

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**Disclaimer:** The characters and Star Trek are licensed properties of Paramount Pictures and Gene Roddenberry. I don't own anything…unfortunately.

**Summary:** A chance visit to the Captain's bedroom alters her perception about the man who is James T. Kirk. And the rumor mill is simply too happy with this.

**Rating:** Rated T for suggestive language and profanity.

**Words:** 1648

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**_A Quick Shower_**

_0700 hours - Delta Shift._

Ensign Carter was nearing the end of her shift. Delta Shift was a bitch, with personnel working during the ungodly hours from 0200 to 0800. She was tired, and her hair was slightly messed up from all the repairs she had to make that day in Engineering. Having about one more hour to go, she was commed by Lt. Reynolds requesting her to make some repairs in the Captain's Private Room. 'A faulty sonic shower head' he had said. Packing some of the essential tools required for the job, she headed to the turbolift and pressed the button that would take her to the third level. Being in Engineering, her quarters were assigned in the lower levels of the ship's deck. And her work never required her to go to the upper levels for any reason. Naturally, this was about the first time she was visiting this portion of the ship. She smoothed her hair in a last ditch attempt to look presentable. She was meeting the Captain of the USS Enterprise after all.

* * *

The turbolift doors opened and she was met with a rather deserted corridor. There were only two other officers in gold shirts walking away from her at the far end of the corridor that turned to the right and another Science officer with a PADD in hand waiting for his turn to ride the turbolift. She stepped out rather nervously, unsettled by the utter silence in the corridor, and the Science ensign hurried into the turbolift without even taking his eyes off the PADD.

A beat later the entire corridor was empty save for her and she could hear nothing but the constant humming of the ship's engines. This was very different for her, having been in Engineering, and the constant whirr and thump that emanated from the many machines in there had become background noises that she was accustomed to. Never had she heard the humming of the engines that seemed to come from all around her and was the one and only sound which seemed to exist.

She marched on and looked for the Captain's private room. After three doors, two belonging to some senior Lt. Commanders and one to the First Officer, she reached the door she had been looking for. She took a deep breath and pressed the comm button outside. "Captain, this is Ensign Carter from Engineering. Lt. Reynolds informed me of the repairs you requested" she said, happy for not having stuttered in her nervousness. There was a beat of silence then "Come in". The doors whooshed open and she was met with a mild perfume wafting through the room.

* * *

Her first impression was that it was a rather spacious room, almost three times the size of her standard dorm that she shared with another ensign. Only then she noticed that it was just his office, and a small pathway led to another room that most likely served as his bedroom which must be equally as big. There was a desk with two chairs for visitors and a plump couch that made her want to go plop herself into it. There was also a large holo-vid on the opposite wall, next to a couple of shelves overflowing with PADDs. The room was pretty neat and the desk uncluttered with everything where it should be, and this quite simply amazed her. She had never met the Captain face to face, save a few times having seen him from afar when he came down to Engineering to chat up with Lt. Cmdr. Scott. Oh yeah, she had seen him the numerous times he appeared in news holos, Earth's hero and all, but secretly, she was quite certain that he was a brash, arrogant jerk. _No offense Captain, but it is true._ She had heard of his time during the Academy and all the mischief he had been up to and quite frankly it repulsed her. She respected her Captain of course, she did wholeheartedly, but she couldn't come to liking _James Kirk_, the man who chased behind anything in a skirt, or so she heard.

Knowing that about him, she almost expected his room to look like how those teens with raging hormones had their rooms: messy, clothes piled on the floor, and a whole lot of posters sporting their favorite bands, actors and so on. This, however, was a pleasant surprise.

"Ah! Ensign Carter! You're just in time".

She shook her head inwardly to stop her flow of random thoughts and turned to look at the Captain. Standing by the bedroom doorway, in his Starfleet issue black undershirt and slacks, he was every bit his handsome self like she had seen in the holos. _Just in time?_ Oh! She noticed his hair was wet, like he had taken an actual shower instead of the sonic shower, and she remembered quickly why she was here.

She cleared her throat and said "Yes Captain. May I take a look inside the restroom?"

"Feel free" he said, quickly stepping aside from her way, a small smile tugging on his lips.

She was slightly nervous, wondering if he was implying something else, or just being nice. She moved forward, entering the room and turned _(just in case!)_ to look back at him. She half-expected him to be watching her ass from behind and was already forming a response in her head, if he was doing so. She turned and paused, a little taken aback, to find him already moving to sit on his chair near the desk. He pulled a PADD and started reading something on it. She was a tiny bit happy that she had been proven wrong by him twice, and turned to look at his bedroom.

There was a king size bed taking up most of the room and a wardrobe with many drawers on one side. There was also a small shelf with a couple of holos and she instinctively moved closer to take a good look at them. She wondered if there would be photos of his father, George Kirk or his mother, but she was wrong again. There was a holo of the Captain and the CMO Dr. McCoy in their Academy days, arms over each other and huge smiles on their faces. They looked infinitely younger in them, and she was painfully reminded that the Captain was just 26 years old now and the Doctor only 32. Taking on huge responsibilities had aged them, in a good way, made them mature beyond their years and she felt a flutter of admiration and reverence towards these two men. Just when she was beginning to get lost in her thoughts, the comm to the Captain's room rang and a gruff voice spoke "Jim! It's me. Open up!" _Speak of the devil._

She cleared her head, again, and hurried into the restroom, and a large one at that. It had a big bathtub, and she was slightly envious of the perks a Captain enjoyed aboard a starship. A glass partition separated the shower area, which had both sonic and normal showers. The glass was misted, and the shower area was wet, having been used just moments ago. The strong smell of whatever shampoo the Captain used wafted deliciously throughout the room and she was tempted to rummage into his cabinets to look it up.

She berated herself for not having her mind on her job, and went about quickly removing the wiring panel in the sonic shower head and got to work.

* * *

She was done about ten minutes later and checked the sonic shower one last time to see it was working smoothly. Satisfied with her work, she stood up and almost slipped on the wet floor, and reached out her hand to steady herself. But instead, she accidentally slammed her hand on the water shower panel and turned it on. Water gushed out from the shower, soaking her and she hastily turned it off. She stepped out of the bathroom and looked into the floor length mirror. Luckily, only her hair had become wet, and her clothes were relatively dry. Shaking off the wetness in her hand, she hoisted her tools bag above her shoulder and went out of the room.

The Doctor and the Captain seemed to be in some sort of discussion when they both abruptly came to a halt, both pairs of eyes turning towards her. She noticed the Doctor's eyes widening, in what she thought to be suspicion, watching back and forth between her and the Captain. The Captain however had a smile on his face, and spoke up "Had a quick shower, I suppose?" chuckling lightheartedly. And she **blushed**, _God help her_, she didn't know why. It probably had something to do with her guessing what was running through Dr. McCoy's head. Her hair was wet, just like the Captain and she looked tired and worn out with a wrinkled uniform. _And why was a young woman coming out of the Captain's bedroom at 0730 hours in the morning for God's sake?_ The image was enough for anyone's thoughts to run wild. "Captain" she said giving a nod to him and walked away to the exit. The doors were closing on her when she heard the Doctor's angry voice "Dammit Jim! Don't tell me you slept with her? Your own Ensign? I swear to God…." and the hearty laugh of her Captain. She stepped outside and met with another ensign in red chuckling and looking pointedly at her. No doubt he had heard what the good doctor had said. God! She hoped the rumor mill wouldn't start churning stories about this incident. But she knew it would be otherwise.

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**A/N:** **So, how was it? Reviews are love and will be returned too :)**

**The first year of my college has finally flown by! And I have two solid months of holidays. Which means more updates for my stories which are NOT on hiatus. And, what the hell happened to the line breaks anyway?**

**UPDATE 2: Fixed the line breaks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you guys for the lovely reviews! They made my day. As promised I have my second chapter up. Thanks to royalpinkdogs for suggesting this, indirectly. **

**And, I just watched Star Trek Into Darkness bloopers! LMAO! So hilarious! If you haven't seen it, check it out on Youtube. It made me and my sister roll on the floor with laughter. Especially Simon Pegg's antics! **

**For Disclaimers and Ratings, see previous chapter.**

**Words: 1170**

**Summary: Stuck in the turbolift with Captain Kirk, Ensign Carter finds herself to be fresh feed for the rumor mills. Let the churning begin!**

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**A Good Ride**

_2000 hours – End of Beta Shift _

Ensign Carter had been on Beta Shift for the day. It had been an eventful day, what with Ensign Richards tripping on a half-repaired console in Engineering and pulling out most of its wires, eventually short-circuiting the entire machine. She had been in the Mess Hall with a couple of friends having her lunch, when all Beta Shift personnel were urgently required to report to duty half an hour earlier than usual.

Abandoning her half-eaten lunch, she had quickly taken off to her department, where about fifty engineers were assigned to attend to the many power outages that had happened throughout the ship. All because of Ensign Richards, who had been eyeing the pretty Lt. Angelina Chase instead of where he was going. He passively listened when he was given an earful by Lt. Cmdr. Scott which had Carter wondering if anything of the Scottish brogue was filtering through the thick skull of Richards.

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Tired and hungry, she stepped into the turbolift and leaned on her side waiting for it to take her to her room in level 9. The doors whooshed closed and ascended, stopping to a halt in an intermediate level to allow other personnel access to the turbolift.

When the doors opened, Ensign Carter took in the man standing before her, and snapped to attention. He, however, was engrossed in a PADD and did not even look up to notice her as he entered the turbolift. The doors closed shut, and Carter was hit by a warm, rich but mild fragrance of leather, tobacco and a hint of vanilla. It spelled sensual and mysterious, with a touch of playfulness. She inhaled deeply thinking if she stayed for more than two minutes, she might go dizzy with pleasure. The turbolift continued on its way upwards and Carter silently enjoyed the fragrance.

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Suddenly, the turbolift halted midway and all the lights turned off, plunging them into darkness. "What? I thought the power outage problem was all fixed!" the Captain said, quite incredulously.

"It was, Captain" Carter said, wondering what had gone wrong. Her mind was clearly not functioning to its optimum level, due to the marvelous fragrance enveloping her.

Captain Kirk, however, pulled out his communicator and spoke into it "Scotty! What is this? I'm stuck in Turbolift 3 with Ensign Carter. I thought the problem was resolved already!" Carter was quite surprised. _How did he know it's me?_

Lt. Cmdr. Scott's voice filtered through "Aye Captain, it's just a wee problem that we found out now. Don't worry. The power will be back up in a few minutes. Sorry Captain!"

Captain Kirk sighed "Great!" and Carter could hear the communicator closing shut.

"Well, it looks like we're stuck here together Ensign. We might as well sit down" saying so he sat on the floor of the turbolift. Carter scooted as far away from him as possible and sat down.

He chuckled "I'm not gonna bite."

"I'm sure you won't, Sir" Carter replying, failing to keep the sarcasm away from her voice.

Wincing at herself for disobeying her Commanding Officer, she opened her mouth to apologize. Before she could speak however, a loud grumbling noise filled the turbolift. "What was that?" she asked incredulously.

"Uh, it was me" she heard the Captain say, somewhat sheepishly. In spite of herself, she chuckled.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her last candy bar. She had gotten about a dozen of them as a gift from her aunt, before their shakedown mission.

"Are you hungry, Sir?"

"What's that?"

"Gespar Candy. Have you eaten one before?"

"No"

"Well then, you're in luck Sir. I can assure you this is the best candy you will ever eat this side of the Alpha Quadrant"

"Hm. Hard to say 'no' after a description like that"

She gave half of her candy to him, and ate hers quietly waiting for his response. He hummed in pleasure, savoring the blood-red candy, made of ripe Gespars and had about a percent of alcohol for a bit of punch. Though the Gespar fruit was harvested in Vulcan, it had been grown extensively in Romulus and other planets of the Federation too for its piquant taste. _Nobody in the galaxy could resist that candy. _

She wiped her face with her hand. The place was getting hotter without the power.

"Ensign Carter, I might kiss you for this" he said, still humming in delight.

Carter was alarmed by the thought. The rumor mills had already been spreading the incident in the Captain's room throughout the ship's deck for a month. She was not going to let that happen again.

"Sir, I would prefer you kiss the candy instead" she said, somewhat pointedly.

He laughed, "I already did. I'm eating it aren't I?". After a moment of silent eating, he asked, "I never did get your first name"

Seeing no harm in giving her name (he could find out anyway, he was the Captain after all), she said "Ensign Sarah Carter, Sir"

Taking another bite out of the candy he said "Hmm. Lovely". Whether he meant the candy or otherwise, she would never know, as the turbolift suddenly started again, and the lights slowly turned on. She stood up, and so did the Captain. In the bright light, she noticed his face was flushed and his lips were tinged red, rather than the usual pink and saw him licking his fingers off the Gespar candy. She smirked, and at that exact moment the doors whooshed open.

She found two nurses standing just outside the turbolift who furtively looked at her and the Captain, who was, _for the love of God_, still licking his fingers like some twelve year old kid. She rolled her eyes and got out, sensing the distinct absence of his perfume that had been constantly present. The nurses were sniggering almost hysterically as the Captain called out "Have a good night Sarah" and the doors shut closed behind her.

* * *

One of the nurses spoke up "Had a good _ride_, I suppose?" wiggling her eyebrows suggestively and the other nurse laughed out loud – or rather cackled in her opinion making Carter laugh at that. The first nurse laughed harder, and Carter tried to get away from there as soon as possible.

She reached her room, _finally_. She stripped herself off her clothes and got in to her bathroom for a shower. She passed by her mirror – and froze. She turned to fully see her face in the mirror. Her cheeks were flushed from eating the candy, and her usual bright red lipstick had at some point been smeared across her cheek from eating the candy (or wiping her hand across her face when she had started to sweat, she couldn't say). She looked like she had been ridden hard and put up wet. _That's how she had looked when she came out of the turbolift after being stuck with the Captain?_

She could already hear the rumor mill grinding again.

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**A/N: Reviews = Another chapter. Gespars are tangy fruits found in Vulcan according to Memory alpha. Though Vulcan has been destroyed now, I figured it had to be grown in other planets too. This is the 23rd century after all.  
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**Lol. Lucky Carter! I would give anything to have been in her place :D :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**A\N: I know I said I'll have this out sooner, but real life got in the way. As a compromise this chapter is longer than both the previous ones.**

**This is the last chapter of the three-shot. Hopefully, if I have the time or the ideas, I might add another chapter or two. But, officially, this is the last of the chapters. Thank you all for the follows and reviews.**

**For Disclaimers and Ratings, see first chapter.**

**Words: 2,602**

**Summary: When the rumors start to suffocate Ensign Carter she learns a valuable lesson…from the Captain himself.**

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**_You're On Fire!_**

_2000 hours - End of Beta Shift_

It was the end of Beta Shift. Ensign Carter headed over to the Mess Hall to grab a quick supper. She grabbed her tray of food from the food synthesizer and searched the mess for any familiar faces. Finding no one, she proceeded to sit on an empty table.

There was a group of four female Science Ensigns huddled together in a table next to hers. She noticed two of them pointing at her and commenting something to their friends. She made a conscious effort to ignore the fact that she could hear them and concentrated on shoving food into her mouth. She glanced around to find another table to sit, but the mess hall had already become full.

"You know what Paul from Engineering said? Ensign Carter is sleeping with the Captain!"

One of the women had a pout on her face. "No fair! I've never heard the Captain sleep with any of the crew nowadays".

"Yeah, after that Nurse Chapel transferred, I think he was reprimanded or something"

"As if that could stop him. He's James Kirk!"

"True! Paul said he saw Carter leaving the Captain's private room at the wee hours of morning."

Another woman chimed in "And the other day, Nurse Clinton said Carter had been making out with him in the turbolift."

Ms. Pouty whined "What does he even see in her? She's not exactly hot and she's thirty for God's sake! Why would he sleep with her when he's surrounded by younger women like me?" flipping her hair.

Carter was furious. She got up and stormed out of the mess hall.

She went straight to her dorm. She was relieved to find her dorm empty as her roommate was on Gamma Shift. She plopped on her bed and removed her boots. She undressed and lied down, the conversation from the mess hall repeating in her head.

This had happened ever since she went to the Captain's room to fix that damn shower head. But the rumors worsened after the turbolift incident. Nearly every ensign in Engineering and Science thought that she slept with her CO. But they weren't dumb enough to gossip about the Captain to their superior officers. Thankfully.

Though it didn't affect her working relationships, she was occasionally tempted to report it. She wondered if she could report to Lt. Cmdr. Scott. But the man was well associated with the Captain, enough to have drinks with him every week, that she was sure he would inform the Captain. She didn't want to involve the Captain in this. She was still too embarrassed about the incident in the turbolift. If she informed the Captain that it was _his_ behavior that had resulted in the rumors…No, she would rather get a transfer.

Sighing, she turned over in her bed and went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning she woke up to find her roommate fast asleep after a late night Gamma shift. Carter showered, dressed and went to the Mess Hall. Having skipped dinner, she was starving.

She strode in to find a woman gesturing at her to join her table. She grabbed her breakfast tray and headed over to her.

Lt. Angelina Chase was a pretty woman. Many tried to get her attention, but she was already in a relationship with one, Lt. Mark Hill.

"Morning Sarah"

"Morning"

"Why the long face? Ooh, let me guess. Someone said something about you and Captain Kirk again?"

"Yeah"

"I think you should just report this to someone" she said for the hundredth time.

"Oh, yeah? Well, who should I report to? Other than Mr. Scott or Captain Kirk of course"

"How about you tell Lt. Uhura? She can be really scary"

"I've never spoken even a word to her. And, I've heard she has known the Captain since their Academy days. She would definitely inform him"

"And why is that bad? He can put a stop to this"

"No way! It's better if I never see him face to face again"

"The Captain was a bit of a player at the Academy, but he is a good man. He's not gonna try anything with you… I guess" she said, unsure.

"Nope. Let's just forget it. Hopefully, others will too. It's not like there isn't better things to gossip about."

* * *

Alpha Shift wore on uneventfully for eight hours. Carter retired to her quarters to rest for a couple of hours before her Gamma Shift for that night. After having her dinner, she reported to Lt. Tennyson for her shift. He was a middle-aged man, with dark hair and pale brown eyes. He looked up and noticing her, sighed with relief "Ensign Carter, can you do me a favor?"

"Of course, Sir"

"Commander Spock has requested to have the food synthesizer in the Captain's dining room fixed. Seems, it's malfunctioning. And please don't refuse" he added hastily, when Carter opened her mouth to do just that. "I already had five ensigns turn me down for this and that. I have a comm to make to my five-year old son, who I've not spoken to for two months and it's already getting late"

She sighed. "Yes Sir"

"Thank you". Saying so, he left hurriedly.

Carter grimaced, and hoisted her tools bag up her shoulder. She wondered if she might as well hand in her transfer request to the Captain along with this meeting.

She got in to the turbolift and pressed the Level 1 button. A few officers were walking by in the corridors doing their jobs. Carter walked to the Captain's dining room and went inside. The room was empty save for Commander Spock.

"Permission to enter Commander"

"Permission granted. I presume you are the engineer Lt. Tennyson has sent for the food-synthesizer's repairs?"

"Yes sir"

"You may proceed with your work, Ensign. The Captain will be arriving shortly". Saying so, he scooped up the PADD he was reading and left the room.

Carter tested the synthesizer by swiping a food card for coffee. Whatever appeared was definitely anything but. It was _green_ for heavens' sake and thick as glue. She pried apart the panel on the side and tested the circuitry. She figured she had to re-wire the entire routing system as the secondary processor was bust.

She quickly went about her job removing and connecting different wires. One such wire sent out a burst of sparks when she tried connecting it. _Hmm, wrong one maybe._

She turned around to rummage inside her satchel for the correct wire when she felt her back feeling warmer by the moment. She turned around to find that the food-synthesizer _was on fire!_

"Oh shit!" She hastily looked around for an extinguisher. There, hooked up to the wall at the corner of the room was a small extinguisher. She pulled it out of its socket and sprayed its contents to douse the fire.

Only a split-second later, after her burst of adrenaline had died down did she notice that the side of her pants was on fire too!

She yelled out spontaneously in fear, all the while trying to put it out with her hand. The heat was becoming unbearable. On an impulse, she quickly stripped her pants and struck it on the floor to stop the fire. Just then she noticed someone enter the room and yell "Ensign!". She noticed the Captain rush to her side and tried to put out the fire with another extinguisher. _Where did that come from?_ Anyway, the fire died down,_ finally!_

Still shivering from the ordeal, she looked up as the Captain asked "Are you alright? What happened?"

"A bit of faulty wiring I guess Sir". She became aware of herself devoid of clothing save for her short red shirt and felt a blush creeping up her face.

"We need to get you to sickbay"

"I'm fine Sir"

"Fine? Maybe you can't see it, but you've got burns on your leg"

He took off his Command Gold shirt and handed it to her. "Here, put it on. We can't possibly let you walk like this down the corridor". Filled with gratitude, she gave him a small smile and put the shirt on. It reached up to her mid-thighs, but also hung loose on her body. _Better than nothing._

"Thank you sir"

"Come on"

He led her out to the turbolift which was mercifully empty. She was very self-conscious of her bare legs. She never wore a dress for her uniform, always preferring the pants version. Not that she was out of shape or anything; she did visit the gym about once a week (sometimes). But she was a naturally shy person, favoring modesty in her clothing.

She kept tugging on the hem of the shirt trying to pull it down further. Without turning to look at her, the Captain said "Stop fussing Carter! You pretty much rock that shirt, if I might say so myself". She blushed, but stopped fussing at the hem.

The turbolift opened to a corridor that had about ten people walking left and right. Some did covertly glance at their direction, but the Captain seemed unperturbed by all the pairs of eyes watching them, walking purposefully to the sickbay.

Sickbay was far busier than the corridor outside. Three beds were filled and five to six nurses in pretty white dresses went about their jobs. Captain Kirk pointed to a bio-bed.

"Take a seat. I'll have someone attend to you". She sat on the edge of the bed, pulling down the shirt again to prevent it from riding up her thighs.

The 'someone' turned out to be the CMO himself. "Well, well, Jim coming to sickbay without being dragged by someone? I never thought I'd see the day! Now, what could have been the reason for such a change, Jim?" he asked.

"Just the fact that it's not me who is injured. It's Carter here who needs your help"

Dr. McCoy gave her a once over, a faint smile tugging on his lips.

"Oh! It's you? Not sleeping with him again, are you?"

"Wha-Bones! For the last time, I do not sleep with my crewmembers"

"Yeah? What do you have to say about Christine?"

"I did not sleep with her! Okay, well I did. But that was before I became Captain. After that it had always been a little harmless flirting. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong is I don't have my most capable Head Nurse here to help me train these incompetent nincompoops that have the audacity to call themselves nurses. Why do these people send trainees to the flagship for God's sake? I have enough shit going around as it is. And how the hell did this happen" he said, directing the last question to Carter, who was torn between anger and laughter.

"Faulty wiring" she said, casting her eyes down, waiting for the impending lecture (torture) she was sure she was going to hear - about engineers and their damn freak accidents.

Dr. McCoy opened his mouth to retort when Captain Kirk said "Save it Bones. I'm pretty sure I remember it all by heart"

Carter let out a laugh which seemed to infuriate Dr. McCoy further. "You're lucky this one's here with you". He inspected her wound ("Just first-degree burns") and asked Nurse Banks to treat the wound. She finished a dermal regen session in under a minute and Carter was free to go.

* * *

"Let me take you to your quarters" the Captain said.

"Sir, not to be rude, but don't you have something better to do than escorting me to my room"

"Privilege of being a Captain" he said simply "I'm not under any deadline here and I could use some time off from the chair. The sores are unimaginable!"

Carter chuckled. They headed to Carter's room a few decks below sickbay. She was well aware of the weird looks she was getting again. It made her furious and she came to a decision. _This would have to stop._

Carter opened the door and turned back to the Captain "Captain. A word with you, sir?"

"Of course"

Carter stepped aside and let him pass. She was closing her door when she noticed her walking across the corridor and looking straight at Carter. It was Ms. Pouty from the mess hall that morning. She looked livid, on the verge of tears, and mocking all at the same time.

Carter shut her door and went straight to her bathroom. She could already imagine the new spell of rumors that would be spewing out for the next month. She quickly put on a new pair of pants and removed the gold shirt.

She handed it to the Captain "Thank you Sir. Your help is most appreciated"

"It was my job"

"And - I want to request a transfer Sir"

"What? You want to leave the Enterprise? Why?"

"Sir, its – personal reasons Captain"

"Personal? Anything about your family? Anyone injured?"

"No sir. My family is fine"

"Then what is it? It surely is not about getting a better offer somewhere else. You can't get better than the Enterprise" he said looking perplexed.

_Moment of truth, Sarah. _"Sir, it's just – I don't know quite how to say this"

"You can tell me Ensign. This conversation will most surely be kept between us"

"That's the thing Sir. Half of the crew think that…we are sleeping together"

Oddly, he didn't express shock or anger. He just looked mildly puzzled.

"But we are not, are we?"

Carter wondered how to reply to this. _Was he simply asking or asking her out?_ She went with the former.

"No sir"

"Then I don't see the problem"

Carter sighed. _Was he that thick? And people said he was a genius!_

"Sir, I've been verbally harassed and looked down upon by my crewmembers. I don't think I can take any more of it" she said with an edge to her tone.

"Carter, you're work this past month has become steadily better than ever. There's a glowing report from Lt. Reynolds and a recommendation from Lt. Cmdr. Scott for your promotion. I don't see why you're bothered by something as inconsequential as these rumors when you are fully capable of not letting that affect your job"

Carter was stunned. _A promotion!_

He went on "Just because someone said it, doesn't make it true. You know you haven't done something wrong. You tell it to them. If they still don't believe you, then they can go suck it. Life is too short to be complaining. You just set your eyes on something big enough that's gonna take your mind away from all these things"

Carter looked thoughtful as her brains processed his words. Not a very Captain-ly eloquent lecture, but rather a man who had 'been there, done that'. She might have been wrong about him after all.

"Think about it. You don't wanna throw your life away, just because some people said you slept with Jim Kirk" saying so he stood up, putting on his command gold.

Carter smiled at him "Thank you sir".

"Besides, considering most women _want_ to sleep with me, you should be happy. You'll make a lot of women envious"

Carter laughed and he gave a small smile.

"How about you take the rest of Gamma shift off and report for Alpha shift tomorrow?"

"Thank you Captain" she said, her words (and heart) filled with gratitude.

"Good night Sarah"

"Good night Captain"

She closed her door, and plopped on her bed. A small smile played on her lips. She found a new-found confidence in herself that hadn't been there before. She really loved this ship…and her Captain.

* * *

**A/N: So, that's the end. Reviews, pretty please!**

**I learnt from Memory Alpha that the replicators didn't come into existence until the 24th century. Food was from food synthesizers in which you had to swipe a card, for whatever food you wanted.**

**UPDATE: Thank you to my lovely guest reviewers! And yes, its nice to think of Kirk as a decent captain. Because, hey, he was a (little) grown-up in the second movie. I couldn't imagine the Kirk in STID flirting with all the women in his crew. Yes, he did with Carol Marcus, but it wasn't lewd or anything. I could tell he had a genuine attraction to her.**

**Cheers!**


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